I'm weak. Long read. Rescue.

So last night my wife and I are sitting on back patio and behind our fence there is building that has trees. I noticed a black silhouette near the top of a 40' tree. I grab my binoculars and it was a mature cat with what appeared to be a collar on. Well my wife starts to worry, I said if he is not down by morning I will call the property owner when they open at 9:00 a.m. and let them know. Well sure enough this morning it was cold and misty this morning and the cat was up there still. I called and told the lady about the situation and she said she would get someone on it.
Well while out working today I had to go see my heart Dr. for my follow up and the wife called the building the tree was located on and they told her the fire dept, animal control both told them to just put a can of food at base of tree and it will come down. Nope, food was there since 9:30 a.m. So wife calls me and asks what are "we" going to do since a huge cold front is coming in tomorrow.
I leave downtown Ft Worth and drive over there and look closer at the cat. He/she is up there shivering. I walk in building and they have a 8 foot ladder in hallway, I grab that and go outside. Well about 7 ladies from the office come out and watch a 52 year old man do the gorilla climb up a tree. I get within 5 feet of the cat and it is just meowing and shivering. I have to make a uncomfortable "circle the trunk" of the tree with my legs and shimmy up to the next area of branches so I can get another grip with my arms to get to cat. As I am inching upward I start thinking if I am holding onto the cat how am I going to get down with a cat in my arms...oh well I still need get closer. Now I am arms length away (30ish feet in air) and start to pet the cat and talking in a calming voice. Well the cat has a death grip on the wood and will not let go. Keeping in mind my thighs are getting weak clamping around the main trunk so I can use my arm to get this cat. All the while I have ladies yelling at me "be careful " "don't fall" ...well I finally rip the cat off the tree and pull him/her into my chest and it is shivering, along with myself, but mine was due to my legs getting weaker. I start to inch my way down and notice I am stuck about 20' in air and cannot maneuver any lower without using my hands/arms. What am I gonna do? Well as the ladies notice this here comes another woman carrying a blanket and all 5 ladies make a "catch blanket". So from about 20' high I toss the cat dead square in the blanket and cat is saved. Turns out there is a phone number on collard key tag, so they called and left a message.

But the story is not over...I am still in tree,...weak and thighs are trembling. Have to inch my way down blindly looking for a branch for my footing to take hold. I manage to get down to the normal climb-able branches and my legs are giving out. Now remember I have 8-10 ladies on the ground clapping, calling my their hero etc and at this point I cannot show any weakness, I am after all a man! I finally make it to the ladder and am really struggling to just stand from the weakness in my legs. (Heck I had a heart stent a little over a week ago). I grab the ladder fold it up and walk into building still hearing thank you's etc...but feel like I am going to collapse. I am limping uncontrollably ( weakness in thighs) to make it to truck without embarrassment. Now I am at home feeling like I did my good deed for the day but feel like I just had 2 a days in football. Man I am weak!

Man getting older sucks. Have a blessed day.

Edit... one of the ladies took this photo, wife just sent it to me...

Just wait till the day you have to have open heart surgery with 4 bypasses at 74!!!

Glad you made up the tree and down without falling. As we get older we sometimes do not realize what is catching up until it lets us know not to do that again.

You sir, are a very LUCKY man. I understand wanting to help the animal but that could have ended very badly for you.
I have a friend whose father fell off a ladder while cleaning out rain gutters. He died.

Something to consider.

I hate cats I wouldn't swerve to miss one in my truck. Much less climb a tree

You're a good climber

Gettin' old ain't for sissys!

WoW.....I wouldn't have done it.........but congratulations on saving a cat and not dying.

I hope this was not the reason.... lol.

You sure are a nice guy. I need you as my neighbor as I am afraid of heights.

Glad you’re OK.

I can’t divulge my cat from tree removal method. It does not involve climbing but is not fatal or permanently harmful to the cat.

were on side, congratulations

I would have done the same and felt the same. lol

Hmmm now I'm curious, mine does not involve climbing, but the cat doesn't fare as well.... I'm not a cat person in the slightest.

Does it involve a garden hose and a high pressure nozzle?

God bless you SD!!

You've been cheating death a lot lately. I'd simmer down if I was your age.

Never seen a cat skeleton in a tree

Yup, they usually die of dehydration and fall to the ground.

Rolling that dice.

Pics of the 8-10 ladies?

I think he is nuts.

If there is a stray on the road, my wife will try to save it. Many years ago, we had gone out to dinner on the night before I was schedule to leave the country for a week on business. As we are driving down the street, she spies 3 small white kittens scurrying around a drain beside the road and screams that we have to save them. I pull over and two of the cats dart down the drain, but I manage to snag one with my right hand. I quickly became convinced it was not kitten, but more a tazmanian devil. It sunk its teeth into the webbing between my thumb and forefinger, and its claws began ripping up the inside of my wrist and my palm. I tried shaking it loose, but it had a death grip with its jaws on my hand. Out of options and trying to salvage what was left of my wrist, I yanked the cat away, leaving a perfect incision about 1/2" long on the aforementioned webbing, then throwing the cat off into the grass. It scampered to the drain and was gone.

I ended up at an emergency clinic getting stitches and tetanus shot, then worried during my trip that I might begin foaming at the mouth at any minute.

Superduty - you did a good thing, but for me, my days of animal rescue ended that night on 51st street in Tulsa.

BB gun....

You got to think these things through before you jump. Long handled dip net with a rope tied to the handle might have came in handy.

That's awesome! if I tried that I would likely fall out of the tree and then blame it on the panther...

Hope you counseled the feline never to do that again.

Good job Shane. Just remember a cat has 9 lives and you only have 1!

This is a serious thread. You guys need to stop making stuff up and joking around.

Can we keep doing one or the other?

After the cat being up there a day, I bet it does not do that again.

Not a large bet, as cats are crazy.

You are a heck of a man to work that hard to save the cat. As for you being old at 52...I have socks older than you.

I bet that's the hardest you ever had to work for a little P


i am one of a very few men who likes cats. Good job Shane !!

I dunno why but they made me laugh..

Kudos to you. I don't think I would have done that.

"Just shoot up here amongst us, one of us has got have some relief"

Next time just cut the tree down.

Like my dad says,"If you can get your azz up there you can get your azz down." That cat would have had to get down on its own.

Nice of you. I'm not risking my life for a dang cat.

What kind of tree? Elm?

No but that’s a good idea too. My method has now been mentioned by somebody whose initials are S.W.

As mentioned above, a fireman once told me "I have never seen a cat skeleton in a tree."

That was very kind and Dumb of you Shane!
Considering your health right now it could have ended very badly for you and it is not worth the risk over someone else's cat.

My advice, it is time to start asking yourself are these things safe before you start doing them. There is no cat worth your life. I knew a man that tried to save a cat off of his roof, the ladder slipped out from under him. Key word, "knew".

And it would have

A well placed shotgun blast would have relieved the tree of the cat problem.

Good Job.

Probably not a good look with all the womenfolk standing around.

It's a thread about a cat. How serious are we supposed to take it LOL.

Maybe if he see's the same cat up in the same tree next week.

.22/Pellet Gun/waterhose

In that order depending on how many witnesses

I sure hope the wife is taking real good care of you for your good deed!

No kidding, what was the docs orders on the leg where they went in for the stent?

Uhhhhh.....man you guys really know how to keep a guy in check.

"Knock him out, John!!!"

What Skinnerback said.

Your a better person than me. Cat would still be up there

I believe you over extended yourself based on recent medical issues and took too many personal risks for injury. But helping an animal that probably was a pet and depended on humans shows courage and compassion.

I love cats but loathe a box of poop in the house. Feral cats should be destroyed except under specific circumstances.

Feral cats and stray dogs largely exist because of idiot humans.

Cat had a collar and a number engraved on it. I was told the owners were out of town and their elderly mother was watching the cat and it got out. Probably climbed up the tree in a panic and could not get down.

Either way, I would do it again today if needed. If my reason to be here on this earth was to do this act or others then so be it. It is a compassion for animals in need that get to me.

Thank you all for the comments, even the not so nice ones...this is what makes the THF a great place.

Shane Shane Shane........

Probably wasn't in your best interest's to be playing Spiderman in the tree tops, but your heart was certainly in the right place. Hope the cat's owner appreciates what you did.

I need new benos. What were you using?

Next time call Lone Star Law. they'll come out with a film crew, Game Warden, and a firetruck. I seen it once on TV.

Classic.

That’s dumb

Still waiting.

Zeiss 10 x 42 ED's

Think I can find them at Academy?

probably on the kegerator

I am not sure, I believe I bought mine there, had them for years.

Btw, my legs look like someone took a baseball bat to them. This blood thinners are taking a toll!

Anyone ever see a dead cat stuck in a tree? Nope....... they come down sooner are later. This reminds me of all the post on the damn next door app, about abandon fawns in peoples yards. Nature takes care of its self, and has so for years.

https://kuow.org/stories/so-your-cat-stuck-tree-again-here-s-what-do/

You do man!! Save some "bugger" for the rest of us common folks.